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No Bill, TT did not encourage folk to "vote for another National Park" he encouraged a vote for any national park on the basis that the Broads isn't one. I agreed with that and I still do and I thought I made that quite clear. I simply then acknowledged your point that some could see that as a vote against the Broads, and I qualified my own assertion that it wasn't.

”No Paladine, you were never told that it would "bestow untold wealth from tourism on the lucky winner" you just made that up.”

I didn’t ‘make it up’. I interpreted the statement (with poetic licence) made by the CEO of the largest boat hire yard on the Broads:

”Mr Munford said a win would be a boost for the region’s tourism industry.

“Tourism is the largest sector industry in Norfolk accounting for nearly 20pc of all jobs in the county and contributing over £3b to the economy every year.

So, put simply, a vote for the Broads is a vote for local tourism, a vote for more jobs to be created in the local community and a vote to develop more facilities such as restaurants and visitor attractions to be enjoyed, not just buy tourists but also by local people.”

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”Here are some facts:

Above TT encourages people to vote AGAINST the Broads.

"You should vote but not for the Broads, vote for somewhere which is actually a National Park."

That is not a fact, it’s your interpretation. TT has urged people to vote for a legitimate national park, true. But you see that as voting against the Broads. I don’t see it that was, so it is simply your opinion, not fact.

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”Karen says: "I agree with you completely" but then backs down from that later.”

Again, your interpretation. I don’t see anywhere that Karen retracts her agreement with TT’s comment.

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”The Broads are allowed to use National Park in marketing. This is absolutely marketing.”

To ‘allow’ suggest that permission has been granted. The BA do not have permission to call the Broads a national park, other than that which they gave themselves.

If you read Lord De Mauley’s (Defra) letter of 20 Nov 2014, he says: ”The consultation on branding is a matter for the authority...”

and ”In terms of government policy, the Broads is treated as a member of the national parks family although its statutory basis is quite separate and it is not legally a national park. We do not propose to change this position...”

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”The Broads are a member of the National Park family under different legislation to all of the other parks - although the Scottish ones also are covered by different legislation - so don't vote for them!”

The Scottish national parks are not in the competition, so that extrapolation is meaningless. And they are legally constituted as national parks.

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”The National Parks lists The Broads as a National Park.”

Answer me this, is the Broads Authority officially listed anywhere as a National Park Authority?

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”The Broads receives a £3000000 National Park Grant.”

While the BA conveniently refer to a ‘national park grant’, I think you’ll find that the payment is made from the National Parks Supplementary Fund, from which payments are made to the local authorities that have a national park within their executive areas. It is simply a useful vehicle by which to give the BA money, but not quite the same as that used to fund national parks.

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”There isn't a competition to pick the best fish in the sea.”

I never said there was, but the comparison is similar to the BBC competition - inclusion of an ineligible entrant.

"..for the avoidance of any doubt, the broads are not legally a national park and do not come under the national park legislation, and nor will they."Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for DEFRA (Hansard 2015)

Heresy I realise but the Broads is not actually everyone's favourite park (official or otherwise). My birthplace and upbringing was in Broadland but I think the Yorkshire Dales trumps it for me. Maybe being in Norfolk so long has made it seem a touch ordinary. I wont be voting in this survey. If I was it would not help local Norfolk business at all.

I know exactly what you mean Exy, I live on the edge of the Peak District and don’t really consider it anything “special” I prefer by far the Lakes and the North Yorks Moors, I guess the phrase that comes to mind is familliarity breeds contempt.

That certainly is not factual. There is actually a recognised method of 'voting against' in a poll or election. That is where votes are actually cast against a candidate, and the candidate with the fewest 'votes against' wins. That is the direct opposite of a 'voting for' poll or election, where the candidate with the most 'votes for' wins.

So the proposition that a vote for another is a vote against is somewhat nonsensical.

"..for the avoidance of any doubt, the broads are not legally a national park and do not come under the national park legislation, and nor will they."Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for DEFRA (Hansard 2015)

That describes it perfectly TT. The Broads are obviously lovely. But if you see things day after day, year after year you start to see them as normal. Then you see an entirely different landscape that is equally stunning... the outcome is obvious.

20 years back I used to really love the Peak district and go there a lot. But with the vast increase in people doing the outdoor thing (a good thing) it is now just to busy for my taste. Being sandwiched between Sheffield and Manchester I guess that is inevitable. The same applies to much of the Lake district and Snowdonia. I prefer not to be in a queue when walking in the hills. So the quieter Yorkshire Dales, North York moors and to some extent Dartmoor and Exmoor do it for me nowadays. I look forward to getting the time to hit the Scottish Parks when I get to retire!